Saying Goodbye to These Sad, Saggy Boobies. Richmond, VA

Hey everyone, I'm Sarah and I'm 24 years old and in nursing school! I am scheduled to have my breast reduction on the 16th, during my five week long winter break. My pre-op appointment with the PS is tomorrow morning, so I'm really excited to learn more details about the time, how long recovery is, his rules for post op, etc.

My background:
I blossomed very early in every sense. I honestly don't even remember owning a B cup. I was pretty happy having a C while that lasted. It fit my body well and even though I was receiving inappropriate attention at such a young age, I didn't feel insecure about them. I distinctly remember the moment some lady sizing me told me I needed a D...I was still in middle school!! I'm pretty sure I cried in the dressing room.
Anyway, my mom kept telling me to inform my doctor at every appointment about my back pain and neck pain, and how my boobs would give me issues when I was active (trying to get referrals to a PS and hopefully coverage for a reduction). After awhile of that I got tired of being told by my doctor to try various exercises, stretches, fixing my posture (uh hello, why do you think my posture sucks in the first place?)

10 years later and despite me not having children, my boobs are flat, wide, and saggy! My nipples stare at the floor. It's so sad! I had completely forgotten about the option of having a breast reduction because in the last few years I've been dealing with more severe pain and health issues caused by endometriosis. Now that that is semi-controlled, I am noticing my back and shoulder pain more and more. While sitting in class, I sometimes get the feeling of rubber bands snapping between my shoulder blades. When I try to sit straight and not slouch, I can only maintain it for so long before my back starts to hurt.
I have a constant red, bumpy line where the underwire sits under my boobs. My straps dig into my shoulders. I haven't been able to find a bra that actually fits and supports me yet, so I know for sure I'm not wearing the right size. I'm managing to fit into a 42DD, but one bra gives me under-boob, and the other (the tan one in my picture) doesn't lift the girls any. I am so excited to eventually be able to find a bra in an actual store that fits me and isn't matronly!

My consultation for this was way back in May. I initially went just to see if insurance would even approve me. He assessed my breasts, recorded some measurements, briefly went through my history, then took some pictures. He told me I am a great candidate and told me he felt a C cup would be perfect for my body. A few weeks later, I found out that my insurance will cover it 100% after the deductible has been met! I unfortunately wasn't able to have it done over the summer because I had just started a new job and didn't want to take off for so long in the middle of training. We asked insurance to extend my approval to December. They said yes, so waaaay back in June, I giddily scheduled my reduction.

What I know so far is that he will likely use the anchor incision, I'm staying overnight at the hospital and having the drains removed prior to discharge the next day. Other than that....I'm clueless! I'll update tomorrow after my appointment!

Had my pre-op this morning. I received prescriptions for Valium, zofran, and Percocet. I will need to be at the hospital at 5:30am Dec 16th...which means leaving my house at 4am. Yikes!!

Anyway, he says because of the width of my breasts, I'm likely going to be between a full C or D. Hmmm...well I told him I'd rather be on the smaller side than the larger, since they will probably grow a bit when I decide to have a baby and all that. He says not to ice them afterwards, no compression stuff, just cheap, comfy, supportive sports bras for the first 2-3 weeks. I can do underwire at 3-4 weeks if it's comfortable for me. I can do some brisk walking by 2 or 3 weeks if it's not uncomfortable. I told him I was deathly afraid of necrosis, but he doesn't seem to think I have anything to worry about since I don't have any of the risk factors associated with that.
Ummmm...he also said at my post op appointment he will write me a script for scar stuff. I thought that was interesting. I can't remember if there was anything else, but if I remember something later I'll post it in a comment. I'm so excited, but sooooo nervous!!!

By this time next week I will be relaxing (or zonked out) in my hospital room...hopefully without pain!

I have been approved for a 2nd position in the hospital I work at, so all this week I will be orienting/training for that so I am ready to go as soon as I am healed up enough to come back to work. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed that I even applied for a 2nd position since I'm in nursing school and already have a hard enough time not driving off a bridge (lol, joke) but hubs and I are both trying to make ends meet without as much help, so I guess I'll deal. On the bright side, at least I'm almost guaranteed an RN position when I graduate.

Back to the surgery...I was scheduled to do my pre-op testing tomorrow, but the pre-op nurse called and went through my history and all of that information and agreed with the surgeon that there isn't a need for me to have any testing done other than the required stuff the morning of surgery, so yay! Since I won't be doing that, I won't have the opportunity to pick up the special skin prep stuff for the night/morning before surgery, so I am going to try to see if I can grab some from work. Otherwise, she said using Dial soap will do just fine. So I guess that's it for now. I will update with more pictures some time before surgery. Until then, I'll just be slaving away in the ER...

Hope everyone is having a great week! :)